Published: Wednesday, 6th August, 2008 12:00pm

Junior Championship

IF Cornafean are to recapture the junior championship title for the first time since 2000, they will have to do it by the back door after they lost out to Templeport in their first round replay last weekend.

The Reds were slightly fortunate first time out to nick a late equaliser but ran out of luck on Saturday evening last in Ballyconnell as resurgent Templeport put them to the sword. Cornafean can have no complaints about being propelled into this year"s qualifiers as they failed badly to consolidate a bright start.

Cornafean were at their best in the opening quarter over the course of which they were much the better, more potent, side. After just 12 minutes, Cornafean were sitting pretty on the back of a 0-4 to 0-0 advantage and weren"t at all flattered by that useful lead.

Two Fergus Reilly points (including one free) and a point apiece by Art McSeain and Liam Duignan (11mins) presented Cornafean with a momentum that they really ought to have built upon. Templeport were very slow off the blocks and weren"t at the races at all "till the advent of the second quarter.

On a sod made greasy by intermittent drizzle, the play was fast and furious and the quality of the play was, more often than not, redolent of a higher grade.

Sadly for Cornafean, their best efforts were seen in the opening quarter and from the moment Ciaran McManus pointed in the 13th minute to open Templeport"s account, Cornafean"s early lead took on an increasingly precarious look. Indeed after Seamus McAweeney halved his side"s deficit and Ciaran McManus doubled up with two tremendous points in the 19th and 20th points, the portents of a demoralising evening became all too evident for Cornafean.

McManus"s second gem levelled matters at 0-4 apiece and when the same player landed a "45" in the 22nd minute, the script suddenly became all the more clear and transparent. Incredibly Cornafean went a full twenty minutes before adding to Duignan"s point. In between, Templeport played in a gear which their opponents simply couldn"t match with the midfield pairing of Danny Ball and Killian Smith lording matters and dovetailing splendidly with frontmen McManus and Heery.

More aggressive in the tackle, fitter and imbued with a greater team spirit, Templeport found it not too difficult to extend their lead in the second half.

Although Art McSeain drew first blood for Cornafean just over 90 seconds after the restart, Cornafean"s creativity and marksmanship left a lot to be desired and a further 18 minutes elapsed before the Reds added to their tally. Templeport, in contrast, were much sharper and incisive in the final third of the field and points from Donal Maguire and Seamus McAweeney left them holding a 0-10 to 0-7 lead entering the final ten minutes of the match.

Even the relocation of veteran Brian Doyle into the full-forward berth failed to unhinge Templeport"s surge to the winning post.

Excellent defending by the Saint Aidan"s team plus their midfield axis in particular helped cement Cornafean"s troubles as the minutes ticked by. To their credit, Cornafean battled all the way to the end and Liam Duignan finished the scoring with a neat point but earlier efforts by Fergus Reilly and Ciaran McManus left Duignan"s point of little value.

Templeport - Daniel Shannon; Joe McKiernan, Sean Dolan, Ronan Maguire; Lasse Morgenrath, Sean Corrigan, Martin Ball; Danny Ball, Killian Smith (0-1); Donal Maguire (0-2), Shane Heery, Seamus McAweeney (0-2); Martin Baxter, Padraig McGovern, Ciaran McManus (0-7). Sub used; Sean McGoldrick.

Cornafean - Killian Reilly; Donal Brady, Mark Johnston, Liam Young; Eamonn Gaffney, Eamon Reilly, Barry Doyle; Cathal Sheridan, Brian Doyle; Kieran Reilly, Val Sheridan (0-1), Gordon Morrow; Liam Duignan (0-2), Fergus Reilly (0-4), Art McSeain (0-2).

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